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Research interests

Embryo environment and developmental potential and health

We are interested in how the environment of the oocyte and preimplantation embryo can influence its development and future long-term potential. We investigate how maternal diet (in vivo), maternal sickness (in vivo) or IVF-related culture conditions (in vitro) can affect blastocyst development including gene expression patterns, cell proliferation and cellular phenotype. We derive embryonic stem cell lines to further characterise environmental effects on developmental potential.

Our data indicate that programming of postnatal phenotype can derive from early embryonic environment which has important implications for embryo potential and fetal/postnatal health. Our studies comprise a range of molecular, epigenetic, cellular and physiological technologies on extra-embryonic and embryonic cell lineages and postnatal tissues.

Mechanisms of early mammalian development

We are also interested in the basic mechanisms regulating early mammalian development. Following fertilization, the egg undergoes a series of cell divisions to form a blastocyst which implants into the uterus wall. The blastocyst initially contains two types of cells, one an outer epithelium (trophectoderm) which gives rise to most of the placental tissues of the conceptus, the other, (inner cell mass), which gives rise to the entire foetus after implantation. Blastocyst formation is therefore an essential first step in our development. We use the mouse embryo to tackle the fundamental questions: How do different cell types expressing different genes and proteins emerge during development? What role is played by cell-cell interactions in this process? How do cells mature and differentiate into an epithelium, the commonest tissue in our bodies?

We utilize mainly animal models for our research (principally the mouse) but also include human embryos where appropriate and under HFEA license.

We have strong links with the School of Medicine at Southampton, particularly staff within DOHaD (Developmental Origins of Health and Disease) and the early human development and stem cell consortium within the university.

Additional publications

Fleming TP, Eckert JJ, Thomas FC and Sheth B (2005) Morphogenesis of the early mammalian embryo: cell lineage heterogeneity and developmental potential. In Implantation and Early Development, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.